Kerr, Christopher S. Kryukovskiy, Artem I. L. Chen, Jennifer Effects of Surface Passivation on Trap States, Band Bending, and Photoinduced Charge Transfer in P3HT/TiO<sub>2</sub> Hybrid Inverse Opals We investigate the effect of a common TiO<sub>2</sub> passivation reagent, TiCl<sub>4</sub>, on the photoinduced charge transfer of poly­(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) to TiO<sub>2</sub> in the inverse opal structure. Treating the inorganic oxide framework with TiCl<sub>4</sub> leads to an increase in the size of the TiO<sub>2</sub> nanoparticles, a thickening of the inverse opal framework, and a decrease in the trap-state photoluminescence. These changes lead to different energy alignments at the interface. In comparison to the unpassivated P3HT/TiO<sub>2</sub> inverse opal, we measured a larger polaron yield, by as high as ninefold, and significantly shorter and more uniformly distributed polaron lifetimes in TiCl<sub>4</sub>-treated samples. We show that downward band bending in the polymer can be circumvented by tuning the trap states on the metal oxide using TiCl<sub>4</sub>, thereby eliminating the energetic barrier for photoelectron injection from the polymer to the metal oxide. The findings suggest a way to overcome a potential factor that has plagued the performance of metal oxide–polymer hybrid photovoltaics. polymer;framework;TiO 2 nanoparticles;photoinduced charge transfer;TiCl 4;polaron;P 3HT 2 Hybrid Inverse Opals;TiO 2 passivation reagent;Photoinduced Charge Transfer;unpassivated P 3HT 2;metal oxide;opal 2018-07-12
    https://acs.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Effects_of_Surface_Passivation_on_Trap_States_Band_Bending_and_Photoinduced_Charge_Transfer_in_P3HT_TiO_sub_2_sub_Hybrid_Inverse_Opals/6847463
10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b04931.s001